The three riders of the bad time: Warpage, sloth and distraction
It's not an appocalypse, but I haven't gotten a whole lot done in the shop. I took the greaves out of the forge after they'd cooled, and the one which was ready to quench was warped all to hell. Getting it red hot while resting on a warped and spindly ankle was clearly a bad move. Note for the future: don't put these things ankle down in the forge. Since they have to go into the quench bath quickly ankle UP probably makes the most sense, because then it's also easy to grab for that operation.
I've gotten distracted by some new activity in the music guild. The guild principle asked me to lead things for the indefinite future. It's cool to get asked to do this, though I'm not sure I'm the best musician in the group, and I'm really excited about it. I'm not saying I totally suck, but enthusiasm and organization probably counted for something. I spent a bunch of time recently getting our practices up and running again, collecting the sheet music for Candlemas and practicing. We have four sets to play plus the candle dance.
It has reinvigorated my interest in double reeds though. Aunt Mary got me a reed making kit for Christmas that's really nice. I still need to get some cane and get cracking on the hundred reeds I want to make this year.
On a related note, this guy: Steffen Fischer makes most of Wolgemut's instruments, and his prices right now don't look too bad at all. These guys also have some neat instruments: Early Music Shop though they're somewhat pricey.
I ordered a bunch of rattan yesterday. HHPerkins ended up having the best deal running, particularly on the thicker rattan. They're the only ones I could find who offer 2 inch diameter. The folks I talked to at the Canning Shop and Frank's Cane and Rush both said the source had dried up. The Canning shop isn't really forthcoming about their prices either, which ticked me off a bit. When you see the price is $15 per stick, you'd expect 4 sticks to be $60 (plus shipping and handling) right? Apparently, no, it's over $100. They're doing some scary new math in Berkeley.
I also desparately need a decent 1/8 inch bit for my #5 Whitney punch. Mine works just well enough for me to torture myself with it. Despite claiming that it was present, the #5 punch set I won on Ebay was missing the one punch I really needed.
I've gotten distracted by some new activity in the music guild. The guild principle asked me to lead things for the indefinite future. It's cool to get asked to do this, though I'm not sure I'm the best musician in the group, and I'm really excited about it. I'm not saying I totally suck, but enthusiasm and organization probably counted for something. I spent a bunch of time recently getting our practices up and running again, collecting the sheet music for Candlemas and practicing. We have four sets to play plus the candle dance.
It has reinvigorated my interest in double reeds though. Aunt Mary got me a reed making kit for Christmas that's really nice. I still need to get some cane and get cracking on the hundred reeds I want to make this year.
On a related note, this guy: Steffen Fischer makes most of Wolgemut's instruments, and his prices right now don't look too bad at all. These guys also have some neat instruments: Early Music Shop though they're somewhat pricey.
I ordered a bunch of rattan yesterday. HHPerkins ended up having the best deal running, particularly on the thicker rattan. They're the only ones I could find who offer 2 inch diameter. The folks I talked to at the Canning Shop and Frank's Cane and Rush both said the source had dried up. The Canning shop isn't really forthcoming about their prices either, which ticked me off a bit. When you see the price is $15 per stick, you'd expect 4 sticks to be $60 (plus shipping and handling) right? Apparently, no, it's over $100. They're doing some scary new math in Berkeley.
I also desparately need a decent 1/8 inch bit for my #5 Whitney punch. Mine works just well enough for me to torture myself with it. Despite claiming that it was present, the #5 punch set I won on Ebay was missing the one punch I really needed.
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